DelPen wrote:Not having Staal down the road means resigning Letang will not be an issue. Orpik might be a problem but at 34 it would be wise to elt him go provided these young guuys will be able to step in.

You need some consistancy, hopefully it will be Letang and Suter until 2020.

Can't disagree with that...

there are MANY situation I could drool over in the coming years...

Imagine Letang, Morrow, Pouliot, and Despres pushing up and down the ice...with Harrington, Dumoulin and Maatta steady in defensive zone. Wait...there's no room for Suter now!

DelPen wrote:Not having Staal down the road means resigning Letang will not be an issue. Orpik might be a problem but at 34 it would be wise to elt him go provided these young guuys will be able to step in.

You need some consistancy, hopefully it will be Letang and Suter until 2020.

This is something that I think about Orpik as well. What's going to happen when that contract is up. I guess he took a few Mill less to stay here, but that was still a big money contract. Would he take somelike like 2.0M a year for 5 years to finish his career here? Under 35 contract so he can retire whenever and its off the books? Help guide these younger players as the veteran defenseman/lockerroom guy as he slowly moves out of the top 4 and into the bottom pairing with some rookie.

II think Orpik ends up becoming a 5/6 defensemen on this team, someone who can still be effective in 12-14 mins a game and can help mentor the rookies as the come up. But at less money then he gets paid now.

Malkamaniac wrote:I have grown to dislike Orpik over the past year or so. He's the physical presence, so he still has a role here however.

The irony is, I'd almost rather orpik stop putting himself out of position chasing a big hit, and checking people on top of Fleury. He'd probably be a better defenseman if he played less physically, but he would be doing away with what makes him special to begin with.

Shero's interview on DVE had a lot of nice tidbits in it. Thepensblog as a link if you want to listen.

He said his plan all along was to move 1 defenseman at the draft. He made mention of guys in the pipe (specifically Despres, Strait and Bortuzzo) that are ready for and NHL job. It seemed to me he plans on one of those three taking regular shifts and the move of Michalek makes that possible. He also stated that Joe Morrow almost stayed up for 10 games last season before going to juniors.

He later said that teams are calling him about Paul Martin, but he isn't entertaining offers at this time. He said something to the effect of "once you start trading away NHL defensemen, its very hard to get NHL defensemen back". After listening to it, it seemed to me that Martins status was dependent on getting another player (Suter) coming the other way.

Id be perfectly happy throwing out a lineup of:

Letang - SuterNiskanen - OrpikDespres - EngoStrait

With Bortuzzo and Morrow lurking.

I expect big things from Despres this season and by years end he should be logging closer to top 4 minutes. Orpik stays, but his status beyond this season depends on his play. Either way, I don't think he gets renewed here.

Malkamaniac wrote:I have grown to dislike Orpik over the past year or so. He's the physical presence, so he still has a role here however.

The irony is, I'd almost rather orpik stop putting himself out of position chasing a big hit, and checking people on top of Fleury. He'd probably be a better defenseman if he played less physically, but he would be doing away with what makes him special to begin with.

I've grown to enjoy the checking people into MAF habit. Purely because he then gives the look to the other defense men when a goal is scored and he's been caught out of position.

steelhammer wrote:Morrow and Harrington would get torn to shreds in their own zone in the NHL next season. Additionally, Morrow's best asset is offense and that is not what the Pens are lacking on their team right now (they finished first in goals scored last season despite having Crosby for only 25% of the season). Bortuzzo & Strait are the most NHL-ready and no one else is close, save for Despres to a much lesser extent. Bortuzzo and Strait are not flashy, but they get the job done defensively which is exactly what the Pens need. Suter is a nice (and expensive) pipe dream, but realistic solutions already exist in our system.

And you have a realistic post. I think if we get a defenseman it will be at the deadline, even though right now I can't see any options that would be great. What do you think will happen?

Let's not forget, Shero was relegated to spectator @ this years deadline due to exorbitant prices. Is it better to spend a little extra cash now on a veteran, physical D or hope and pray 1 is made available at the deadline, for a price that is acceptable? Also, if 1 of the young bucks exceed expectations, all the better. Then you can do the extorting at the deadline.

I think Bryan Allen and Matt Carle will be targets for Shero. I personally think they're very torn on what to do. For one, I think Suter is their main target, even before Parise. If Suter is brought in, Martin is gone, but do they bring in one more or leave a spot for one of our WBS players to come up? It's time for guys like Bortuzzo and Strait...and personally I think it's time for Despres. I think keeping Despres down for one more year is a mistake. The little we saw from him this past season showed me that he's likely topped out in the AHL and the only thing left for him to learn is the NHL level play.

To stick to the topic, if the Pens can't get Suter, I say sign Bryan Allen, trade Martin and bring up Despres. Then, trade Niskanen's rights and sign Matt Carle.

Letang, Allen, Orpik, Niskanen, Carle, Engellend and Despres to start the season. I figure Despres and Engellend can alternate.

mikey287 wrote:Matt Carle is horrible defensively...why would we bring him in? And likely for at least twice the price of Niskanen...very confusing.

Matt Carle is not HORRIBLE defensively. That's quite an overstatement. I'm not a huge believer in the +/- stat, but I do believe it can be telling and looking at his +/- minus stat, they've been kind of staggering over the past few years. I'm not saying he's amazing in his own end, but he's pretty solid.

Everyone is high on Ryan Suter and while I obviously think he's better than Matt Carle, you look at their stats and they're pretty similar so I'm not sure what you'd be expecting out of him if you're in the camp of getting Suter. They're both puck-moving offensive-minded dmen. Suter is good defensively, but he's honestly not worlds above Carle in that department.

Picking up a guy like Suter or Carle is the Pens addressing the need that their transition game(something Martin was supposed to help with) needs to be stronger.